Allianz to present new strategy in November: CEO in Handelsblatt

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FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German insurer Allianz (ALVG.DE) aims to simplify its product offering and will present a new business strategy in November, its Chief Executive Oliver Baete told a German newspaper.

FILE PHOTO - The company logo of German insurer Allianz SE is pictured before an annual news conference in Munich, Germany, February 19, 2016. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle/File Photo

“We are already working on that within the organization and will present the results late November,” Handelsblatt daily quoted Baete as saying in an interview published on Friday.

Allianz, however, will not follow some rivals such as Italy’s Generali (GASI.MI) that have sold off German life insurance policies as they struggle to pay guaranteed returns to clients because of record-low interest rates.

“We always said that we will try not to do that globally, and for Germany we categorically rule it out,” Baete told Handelsblatt.

Under the new strategy, the group would aim to achieve customer satisfaction ratings above market average or ahead of rivals across its businesses, he said.

“If Uber or JD.com consider with whom they want to work, they should say: Ideally with Allianz,” he said, without providing further details.

Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com (JD.O) earlier this year bought a 33 percent stake in Allianz’s China unit as part of an agreement to develop a digital insurance joint venture in China.

Asked how many jobs at Allianz would survive the group’s push for automation and digitalization, Baete said he could not guarantee any jobs, including his own.

“But we can try to foster employability. We need to invest more in our employees’ training,” he said.

Allianz last month denied a report by German monthly Manager Magazin that it planned to cut at least 5,000 jobs in Germany, equivalent to about 20 percent of its workforce in the country.